"Queen's Park Rangers revamps data strategy"

[Macmoish]

Just Saw a link to this article on dot.org


(Note the spelling)

Marketing Week

Queen's Park Rangers revamps data strategy

Mon, 20 Aug 2012

Queens Park Rangers is investing heavily in data as it looks to double attendances ahead of a planned new stadium.

QueensParkRangers

The West-London club is overhauling the data strategy used across ticketing, retail and hospitality as well as its community and website sign ups in a bid to reach out to its fans of the club that do not attend matches. It will use the data to collect and manage potential customers until it is ready to fulfil its expansion plans.

The Premier League team’s owner Tony Fernandes revealed details about the stadium plans last month, saying that the club is planning a 45,000 seater stadium in one of two sites in West London.

QPR’s Loftus Road stadium is currently the smallest ground in the Premier League with a capacity of 18,439. Despite average gates of 17,295 in their first season back in the League the club believes that they can fill a stadium double that.

QPR will work with data marketing specialists Sports Alliance to develop the initiative, which it claims outlines a “clear vision for our future marketing campaigns.”

The club hopes to replicate the data strategies of Premier League giants Arsenal and Manchester United, which are putting their fan membership schemes at the centre of all their marketing activty.

Additionally, QPR will be using the data gathered during its pre-season tour of Malaysia last month to exploit interest the trip generated.

Readers' comments (2)

www.marketingweek.co.uk/4003323.article?cmpid=MWE24&cmptype=newsletter&ern=2F7F5A8E5010CE4D043D13D31217CB4A&email=true

[grillr]

I recall attending a dire Division 2 match against Shrewsbury one cold night at LR in the early 80s - think crowd was 7000 or so. I vividly recall coming to the conclusion that the club badly needed a Data Strategy to address matters..... who'd have thunk that 30 years on we'd finally have the vision to make it happen! Next up I suggest we under take a Kaizen blitz on the victualling processes.... that'll probably add 2500 to the gate too.

[ingham]

Now I understand the 45,000 capacity claptrap.

Despite 30-odd League titles between them in the eras of Chapman, Busby, the Babes, Munich, Law, Best and Charlton, Cantona and Alex Ferguson, we at QPR had overlooked the obvious.

The gulf between the Clubs in question isn't between losing 0-5 at home to Swansea, and winning various doubles, European, FA and League Cups and League Titles over NINE decades.

Without any real benefit from any visits to Malaysia, the effect of which would, inevitably, have been less than zero.

No, they stole a march on us by overhauling - overhauling, mark you - their 'data strategy'.

Thank God for that. For a moment there I thought Fernandes was looking to overhaul our 'defensive strategy'. But apparently that is all going swimmingly, and last year's £40 million and this year's £40 million have given us a team which might be defined as 'data strategy' on legs.

What is this data strategy then?

I must admit, it sounds more like 'let's sell off Loftus Road and force QPR into a 'temporary' groundshare with Fulham's £200 million debt' than any blueprint for virtually trebling QPR's attendances.

Malaysia, you have to laugh. QPR is actually IN England and has been for, well, ages, really, and our support remains pretty small, despite playing competitive matches in this country for 40 times a season and more, travelling all over it.

We're also IN Europe, played a few competiitive games in it, and travelled all over the continent in pre-season tours, with little or no effect it all. And that over 50, 100 or more seasons.

But five minutes in Malaysia and Asia is our oyster.

Mind you, it will be a pitched battle with Blackburn Rovers for India.